Newcastle United Awarded Category 1 Status for Academy

Newcastle United have now been granted the category 1 status for their academy.

The Magpies have been trying to get an upgrade their status for a long time but had failed until now.

Recently Joe Joyce, NUFC’s Academy manager, had said back in May that the Auditors were returning later that month to see if the Academy was now up to scratch, he then added that they would find out last month (June) as to whether Newcastle had succeeded in getting the essential top status.

On 19th July the Premier League confirmed that there will be an amended format for this season’s U21 league and in the process confirmed that the Newcastle United’s Academy facility is among the elite group.

As a result there will be one national division, the Barclays Under-21 Premier League, comprised of 22 Category 1 Academies.

The category 1 status will allow club to sign youth players from across England rather than a specified radius, in addition there will be a lot of other advantages that will benefit the club.

Although there has been an announcement from the Premier League, an official confirmation from the club is still awaited.